Case Closed: Masks Don't Work

A major new gold standard Cochrane review study has come to a conclusion that only the utterly brainwashed would consider at all shocking at this point:  masks don't really work to stop the spread of respiratory viruses.  Never did, and never will.  Not even the vaunted N95.  Handwashing is likely modestly effective, but masks are basically a joke overall, and not a very funny one either.

This concurs with over a century of research that came out overwhelmingly in support of the anti-mask side of the debate.  In fact, by 1919 it was practically settled science that these devices aren't anywhere near what they were cracked up to be, a consensus which prevailed until March 2020.  Then the pandemic narrative took over and turned the science upside down for nearly three years straight, while any studies were to the contrary were systematically file-drawered for far longer than those supporting the narrative.  And now the entire pandemic narrative has collapsed faster than formerly healthy young athletes on the field after being jabbed.

We recently noted how the ever-insightful Ian Miller has so thoroughly debunked, deboned, sliced, diced, and julienned the pro-mask arguments, and laid waste to their utterly scorched remains for good.  And be sure check out the excellent Fargo study from Josh Stevenson et al. about masks for kids as well, likely the very best one yet, with the very least biases or confounding.  Spoiler alert:  masks STILL don't work.  Not for kids, not for adults, not for no one.

Oh, and let's not forget the dreaded Foegen Effect as well.  And other harms as well, see here.  That literally makes masks WORSE than useless.  Jettison them!

To the anti-mask side:  you are now hereby overwhelmingly vindicated, and really always have been in fact.  You have literally passed the biggest functional IQ test in all of modern history.  To the pro-mask side:  we are still waiting for you to apologize.  Yesterday.  And to those who switched jerseys anytime after February 2022 (that is, only when it became socially acceptable to do so), you are fooling no one.

QED

UPDATE:  Some may pedantically point out that "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence", therefore "no one can really say" that masks don't work.  True, you cannot (definitively) prove a negative.  But given the totality of the research and real-world evidence, it would be slothful induction (if not magical thinking as well) to still believe that masks have any sort of net benefit at all. If they did have a net benefit, it would have been self-evident long ago.  We need to see the forest for the trees.

"But...but...they worked in Japan!" See here for a good debunking of that myth as well.

And in case the pro-masker zealots pathetically trot out the fatally flawed Boston school mask study in desperation, rest assured that Ian Miller has successfully laid waste to that one as well.  And so has the ever-insightful Emily Burns, as well as Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, one of the authors of the Fargo study. 

Oh, and another study found that masks in HOSPITALS make no difference to infection rates.  Thus, if they don't even work in hospitals with all of their universal multilayered precautionary measures, they simply don't work at all, period.

UPDATE 2:  A re-analysis of the infamous Boston mask study has now thoroughly debunked it.

UPDATE 3:  For more on the harms of masks, see here.

UPDATE 4:  And another school masking study can be found here as well, co-authored by the aforementioned Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg.  Again, surprise surprise, masks STILL don't work.  Period. 

Inflation Is Dead. Long Live Deflation!

If you did a double-take reading that headline, you're not alone.  As strange as it may sound, inflation has already been beaten for the most part, and now the underlying trend has shifted in the opposite direction.  First, the second derivative of price level (with respect to time) has turned negative many months ago, then the first derivative turned negative on a monthly basis more recently in December.  Inflation has apparently peaked in June 2022.  And consumer demand has been falling for many months now as well.  While we had two consecutive quarters of real GDP growth following two consecutive quarters of real GDP shrinking, we are still not out of the woods for a potential recession in 2023 either.  There is always a lag before the actual effects of monetary policy kicks in, usually at least two quarters, sometimes as long as four quarters.

The M2 money supply literally shrank for the first time since 1960 as well in 2022, albeit following an unprecedentedly high growth rate in 2020-2021.  Usually a shrinking money supply does NOT bode very well for the economy.  And that is a result of both fiscal and monetary tightening in 2022.

And while the labor market remains "tight", there is no real "wage-price spiral", and never was in recent years, since while wages rose, they rose less quickly than prices did overall.  Thus, no spiral happened. 

And while China's reopening will stoke pent-up demand for goods and services globally, which is inflationary, that same reopening will un-snarl any remaining snarls in the global supply chains, which is disinflationary, especially now that their "exit wave" of the virus has finally peaked and fallen.

After all, as we have noted before, the REAL root cause of the recent inflationary episode was the repeated and protracted global supply chain disruptions caused by the lockdowns and shutdowns, which of course greatly shrank supply of many goods and services.  And the unprecedented levels of money printing to paper over the predictable consequences, which (upon reopening in the West) stoked demand for goods and services at the same time that supply remained reduced, was like gasoline on the fire, worsening the supply-demand mismatch.  Of course, without printing all that money, and/or without eventually reopening, there would have been a full-blown Greatest Depression, and the architects of the lockdowns and shutdowns would have all been sent to the guillotine within a matter of weeks.

(The Russia-Ukraine war clearly didn't help, as both the war and the sanctions created artificial scarcity of oil and gas, but the general inflationary pressures were of course already there before the war began.)

Honestly, had the entire world simply "adopted the flu strategy" from the start of the pandemic, the supply chain disruptions and other economic effects would really not have been any worse than the 1957-1958 or 1968-1969 flu pandemics.  (Yes, you read that right:  we literally had WOODSTOCK in the middle of a pandemic!)  And while some fiscal and monetary stimulus would probably have been necessary, it would have been only a fraction of what was done.

It's not like the FERAL Reserve can actually do anything about supply chains anyway.  Hiking interest rates and/or shrinking the money supply can obviously quash demand, of course, but does absolutely zilch about the underlying cause of the inflation, which turned out to be largely transitory.

Thus, all signs strongly imply that the FERAL Reserve needs to stand down and stop QT and stop hiking interest rates, and start cutting them yesterday.  Seriously.  But given their tendency to overcorrect, they probably will do so in that regard.  And given how deflation is more harmful than inflation, they need to answer the "clue phone" before it's too late!

And Congress may even need to get a new round of stimulus checks ready as well, since they may be needed sooner rather than later to cure an incipient deflationary spiral.  And of course, they need to stop playing "chicken" with the debt ceiling yesterday!

UPDATE:  And now that the FERAL Reserve raised rates yet again, the above applies a fortiori now.

Don't Do "The Volcker" Again! (Part Deux)

As the FERAL Reserve is still committed to raising interest rates no matter the cost, even if it means deliberately engineering a recession, in an attempt to quash the worst inflation in 40 years, we would like to warn them as follows:

Stand. Down. NOW.  And prepare to reverse course a full 180 degrees, and soon.  Especially since the latest figures show that prices actually FELL slightly in December.  And with a looming recession all but certain now, they should be CUTTING rates now.

And the same goes for their Quantitative Tightening (QT) as well, which of course amplifies the effect of raising interest rates by literally sucking money out of the economy, thus shrinking the money supply.  And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that, since there is exponentially more debt in the overall economy in 2022 compared with 1982, even a fairly modest increase in interest rates can have a much larger adverse effect now compared to back then.

Paul Volcker, former Fed chairman, (in)famously raised interest rates as high as 20% in the early 1980s, and it technically "worked" to quash inflation.  But it came at a terrible price:  not only a pair of really bad recessions with millions of jobs lost, but the resulting damage also inflicted serious sequelae upon the broader working class that persist to this day as well, both in the USA as well as abroad.  The first time, one could say it was naive at best.  Doing "The Volcker" a second time, however, would be downright stupid, if not utterly malicious, narcissistic, and even sadistic.

And the USA was actually one of the luckier countries.  Canada, for example, set interest rates even higher still, and kept them higher for longer than the USA, and they got even higher and more persistent unemployment as result, and inflation persisted longer as well.  It was a complete lose-lose proposition for them.  So don't do it again!

As the old adage goes, when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.  And this particular tool is like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer, or burning down the house to roast a pig.  And worse, it is fundamentally the wrong tool for the job.  Most inflations, including this one especially, are caused by shortages of goods and services.  The only real cure is to solve the shortages, something higher interest rates simply cannot do no matter HOW high they are (at best it reduces demand and squeezes "inflationary psychology" out the system, and at worst it simply exacerbates the "cost-push" side of inflation when kept too high for too long).

And Rodger Malcolm Mitchell notes that governments can easily solve shortages by purchasing at a premium whatever goods or services happen to be in short supply, which incentives production, and then re-selling them (or giving them away) at a loss.  Higher interest rates do absolutely zilch for that.

Of course, we would not have gotten into this situation had our "leaders" not imposed  lockdowns in a futile attempt to control an airborne respiratory virus, and then tried to paper over the inevitable and predictable consequences by printing ludicrous and unprecedented amounts of money that overwhelmingly went toward further enriching the already ultra-rich.  Had we instead adopted the time-tested "flu strategy" from the get-go, with or without a more moderate stimulus package for We the People, we would not have gotten in this predicament in the first place.  Yes, there may have been some leftover problems in the bond markets and especially the repo market from 2019, and the virus would have been somewhat disruptive to the economy, (like the 1957 and 1968 flu pandemics), but nothing even in the same league as what happened with lockdowns.  And from what we have learned the hard way, death rates would have been about the same or even lower.

(No really, cumulative excess all-cause death rates for countries, states, and communities that largely ignored the virus, or at least eschewed lockdowns and more-restrictive NPIs, were actually within error bounds or even lower than for their much stricter neighbors or national/regional averages.)

When you try to "burn the village to save it", eventually the village will return the favor.  It is simply the law of cause and effect, also known as karma.  Sooner or later, you always reap what you sow.  And as the saying goes, hindsight is quite literally 2020.  Will the Fed answer the "clue phone"?

BONUS POINTS:  The Brownstone Institute has an excellent article discussing how the combination of lockdowns and the aftermath (forced massive supply crunch) + stimulus (massive demand boost), followed by the Russia-Ukraine war and sanctions, unleashed the worst inflation in 40 years.  You mean you can't just paper over a massive supply crunch with more demand?  And that war and sanctions are both negative-sum games in which everyone loses to one degree or another?  Gee, who woulda thunk it?

The money supply has been shrinking at a record pace in recent months, thanks to the FERAL Reserve's Quantitative Tightening.  Usually a shrinking money supply portends recession, historically speaking. 

Of course, the other elephant in the room is corporate greed.  They ultra-rich and mega-corporations are taking in record profits, so it is not simply that they are passing higher costs of doing business onto the customers.  An excess profits tax would be the best way to curtail this sort of inflation, as would a one-off wealth tax on the very richest folks, much like several countries did after WWII.  Keep in mind that Trump himself actually proposed such a wealth tax back in 1999, and not a trivial one either, so the MAGA crowd would be truly hypocritical to oppose it.

FEBRUARY UPDATE:  It looks like inflation is largely beaten now, and the real looming threat is deflation. 

2023: The Year Of Reckoning

It's 2023 now, and the ever-insightful Michael P. Senger wrote an excellent article about how this should be the year of reckoning.  Reckoning for what, you ask?  Well, here is a partial list:

• Lockdowns
• Forced antisocial distancing 
• Forced school closures
• Forced business closures 
• Mask mandates 
• Jab mandates and passports 
• Jab injuries and deaths 
• "Run death is near" and other harmful snake oil
• Midazolam
• Denial of actual effective treatments and prophylaxis 
• Blatant censorship and blacklisting
• Lies, lies, and more lies
• Tyranny
• Reverse Robin Hood Economics
• Worst inflation in 40 years
• And finally, having the GALL to gaslight everyone about it

In a nutshell, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY. And no, that is NOT an exaggeration at all, with the body count alone being proof positive.  The powers that be, and their sycophantic lackeys, absolutely must be held accountable, yesterday, with NO AMNESTY.

Otherwise, this will only happen again and again in the future.  Precedents have a way of sticking around.

The Pandemic's Best Kept Secret

The "public health authorities" sure have some 'splaining to do.  Like, yesterday.  Seriously.

From the ever-insightful Dr. Steve Kirsch's recent Substack article, in a nutshell:

"Special mention for the fact that the entire pandemic was completely unnecessary. 3 supplements work better than vaccines and are safe and cheap. All the lockdowns, masking, vaccines, mandates, social distancing, etc. were all unnecessary. And even though this is now known, nobody will pay attention since it will make them look bad.

"Uptake of vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc were significantly associated with the reduced risk of infection and severity of COVID-19 (OR: 0.006 (95% CI: 0.03–0.11) (p = 0.004)) and (OR: 0.03 (95% CI: 0.01–0.22) (p = 0.005))... this study was conducted before the start of mass vaccination against COVID-19 in Bangladesh."

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/23/5029

That's over 150x decreased risk just from taking these 3 dirt-cheap supplements that everyone has known to be safe + effective for decades! And it was all pre-vax, it was for the original Wuhan strain that was most dangerous!"

Read that again, and again, and again and let it sink in.  Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Zinc.  Those three things alone would have largely defanged and declawed this overall already relatively humdrum virus to begin with, which was basically a classic super-flu at worst, and never an existential threat.

How long did they sweep this under the rug?

But wait, there's more....

And let's not forget Quercetin either, per the late Dr. Vladimir Zev Zelenko.  (And the rest of the Zelenko Protocol as well, as needed, which includes HCQ and later IVM as well, also routinely censored.)

In a world of Lysenkos, be a Zelenko.

And of course Niacin (Vitamin B3), NAC (N-acetylcysteine), and Melatonin per Dr. Dmitry Kats.  He probably got the very most censorship of all.

And thiamine (Vitamin B1), per the late Bill Sardi.  And Resveratrol, Fisetin and Turmeric as well.

And nasal irrigation (such as Xlear nasal spray) and mouthwash too.

And aspirin instead of acetaminophen or ibuprofen. 

And perhaps even COFFEE!  Yes, really. 

Lockdowns, masks, closures, antisocial distancing, event cancellations, gathering bans and restrictions, NPIs, panic, hospital denials, ventilators, "run death is near", the magic rebound pill, and of course the jabs, were thus all completely unnecessary from the get-go, and all did far more harm than good on balance.

And last but not least, the reprehensible (and wholly unnecessary) way that nursing homes were mishandled has left an utterly indelible stain on the honor of so many "leaders", from certain big shot state governors to various presidents and prime ministers to healthcare bureaucrats to anyone else who crafted or carried out these evil protocols.

If that doesn't make you feel RIPPED OFF, check your pulse 'cause you might be dead!  That is, you might have been one of the millions of victims of this medical malpractice (at best) writ very, very large.  Scratch that, it's more like GENOCIDE or DEMOCIDE.

If it weren't so tragic, this would be the very most satisfying "I told you so!" in all of recorded history.

QED

UPDATE:  It gets even worse still for the powers that be, apparently, when one also notes that the standard of care for patients with post-viral pneumonia was abruptly changed worldwide, at or before the beginning of the pandemic.  And not for the better, either. The change was to no longer give antibiotics for pneumonia if Covid was thought to be the cause, even though it was very likely that many if not most of such deaths were from secondary bacterial infections.  And antibiotics would have been given had they not been inexplicably removed from the protocols, and thus deliberately withheld from patients for political reasons.  A good chunk of excess deaths could thus easily be attributed to that alone.

And don't forget to read the eye-opening Spartacus Letter if you haven't already.

Have A Safe And Happy Holiday Season

(This is a public service announcement)

It is that time of year again when the holidays are upon us, and many of us Americans (and around the world) will be celebrating with alcohol and/or other substances, pretty much back to normal now.  We at the True Spirit of America Party would like to remind everyone to be safe and celebrate responsibly.  There is absolutely no excuse for drunk driving at any age, period.  We cannot stress this enough.  It's very simple--if you plan to drive, don't drink, and if you plan to drink, don't drive.  It's really not rocket science, folks.  And there are numerous ways to avoid mixing the two.  Designate a sober driver, take a cab, use public transportation, crash on the couch, or even walk if you have to.  Or stay home and celebrate there.  Or simply don't drink--nobody's got a gun to your head.  Seriously, don't be stupid about it!  And the same goes for other psychoactive substances as well, and a fortiori when combined with alcohol.

ARRIVE ALIVE, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!!!   If you plan to drink, don't forget to think!  The life you save may very well be your own.

Dear Xi Jinping (And The Rest Of The CCP) (Part Deux)

It's great that you FINALLY, though belatedly, ended your inane and insane Zero Covid policy after the largest protests in Chinese history since Tiananmen Square.  Now is the time for you to lift ALL restrictions, cold turkey.  At least before Christmas at the very latest.  Period.  And use your infinite central bank digital currency (CBDC) to make your people as financially whole as possible, unconditionally, regardless of their social credit score.  That's right:  pay them reparations for all you put them through.  And give extra reparations to the Uighurs too.

Early treatment and prophylaxis are the only thing that works for this virus, and you know it.  Now roll those out ASAP.  You know you have those available. 

Oh, and do you remember a certain Dr. Dmitry Kats?  You should, because he sure remembers personally telling your government way back in MARCH 2020 (!) about the wonders of high-dose flush Niacin as early treatment and prophylaxis against this virus.  So either a) you deliberately ignored him and suppressed the evidence for political reasons, or b) you surreptitiously used Niacin to treat the virus (perhaps along with Vitamin C, D, Zinc, Quercetin, and/or other nutritional supplements or cheap generic drugs) but still maintained your Zero COVID policy for nearly three years, also for political reasons.  Either way, it's not at all flattering for your regime.  Seriously. 

Oh, and there's the door, Xi.  Step down now.  Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Sincerely, 

The Rest Of The World

P.S.  Did you know you look like Winnie The Pooh?